Who Can Most Benefit from Methadone Maintenance Treatment?
With the wide range of opiate addiction treatment options available, it can be difficult to determine which treatment approach will best meet your needs. If you’ve struggled with opiate addiction for months or years, the more traditional treatment approaches may not be enough to help you overcome addiction’s hold on your life.
Methadone maintenance treatment most benefits individuals who’ve made little to no progress with other treatment methods. By asking a series of key questions, you can determine if methadone maintenance treatment will address your treatment needs.
How Methadone Maintenance Treatment Works
According to the Alabama Department of Mental Health, methadone maintenance treatment combines methadone -medication specifically formulated to restore normal brain functioning- with a series of behavioral interventions that help you create a drug-free lifestyle.
These programs administer methadone doses on a daily basis within a clinic setting. While there, participants engage in behavior-based interventions, such as psychotherapy, support group work and relapse prevention training.
If you’re considering treatment and you’re not sure if your insurance will cover your treatment costs, call our helpline at 800-994-1867Who Answers? for more information.
Questions to Ask
Have I made multiple attempts to stop abusing opiates only to resume using drugs?
With frequent opiate abuse, the brain’s workings become increasingly dependent on the drug’s effects to maintain any semblance of physical or psychological normalcy.
Under these conditions, any attempts to stop or reduce drug use creates widespread instability throughout the brain’s chemical systems.
Methadone maintenance treatment works to support damaged brain functions and restore a a normal brain chemical balance.
Have withdrawal effects become near impossible to fight?
The withdrawal effects brought on by opiate abuse continue to increase in severity the longer you keep using. Even after a person stops using opiates, residual withdrawal effects can last long after the detox period ends.
Methadone mimics the effects of addictive opiates and thereby meets the brain’s “need” for opiates without producing a ”high” effect.
Am I constantly battling drug cravings?
With opiate addiction, drug cravings develop out of changes in how the brain reward system works. Over time, this system comes to rely on opiate effects, leading a person to believe he or she needs the drug to deal with stress, feel content and cope with daily life, according to the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice.
The behavioral interventions used in methadone maintenance treatment enable a person to replace these destructive beliefs and their resulting behaviors with a healthy mindset that’s capable of living life on a drug-free basis.
Do I experience emotional unrest much of the time?
Frequent, ongoing opiate abuse creates prime conditions for emotional problems and psychological disorders to develop. If you feel depressed or experience symptoms of anxiety on a regular basis, treating these conditions at the outset is essential to seeing any success in recovery.
The combined effects of methadone on brain functioning with ongoing behavioral treatment interventions go a long way towards restoring emotional stability while helping you develop the types of habits and behaviors that support a healthy psychological well-being.
If you or someone you know are considering methadone maintenance treatment and have more questions, or need help finding a program that meets your needs, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-994-1867Who Answers? to speak with one of our addiction specialists.